


Old Christmas

by FadedSepia



Series: The Gift That Keeps on Giving [2]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Christmas fic, Gen, Revenge prank, Sequel, Shiny Wufei, holiday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 08:46:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13291308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FadedSepia/pseuds/FadedSepia
Summary: Heero and Trowa must face the consequences of their Christmas glitter bombs.





	Old Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't intend to make a sequel to Home for the Holidays, but I just couldn't help myself.

Agent Yuy stared down at his phone, steeling his resolve. It had been two weeks since he and Trowa had pulled off their little... stunt, and a week since his phone had been hacked. No information had been removed, none of his own programs tampered with, but the personal settings had been altered.

When he'd unlocked his phone, he hadn't seen his favourite picture, the one of Trowa diving from the high wire. Instead, it had displayed a picture of WuFei and Duo, both silver dusted, flipping him the bird.

That had been the first clue that something was off. And that had been when the trouble started. His attempt to change the photo had failed, but his message alert had updated to a shrieking voice yelling nonsense. Trying to change _that_ had altered his ringtone. Then his voicemail message. Then his lock screen. Heero had, of course, tried to get through the successive layers of encryption, but Duo - despite no longer being a full-time agent - hadn't let his skills degrade. Heero knew probably deserved it, but he could at least apologize and see if WuFei would get Duo to relent. It was a fresh embarrassment every time his phone rang.

So now here he was, outside of WuFei’s office, waiting for the other man - technically one of his supervisors - to acknowledge him. “Chang.”

"Yuy." WuFei glanced up from his current stack of forms to nod to the other man currently leaning in his doorway. When Heero, after some minutes, didn’t step back across the hallway, he glanced up with a sigh. “Was there something you wanted?"

"Yes... To, uh... To thank you. For helping...” Heero’s voice dropped as he looked down at the carpet. “... with Trowa.”

“You're welcome.” WuFei went back to the current batch of mission reports he was filing, expecting Heero to wander off like a cat the way he usually did. When the other man made no move to leave, he again set his pen aside, sighing. “Was there something else?”

“I also wanted to... to apologize."

"Apologize?" Agent Chang leaned back in his chair, the light catching and reflecting on the last streak of silver still present across his cheek. A routine of successive applications of lotion and diluted acetone had finally gotten through the sparkling paint of his face and arms. His hair, however, still glinted like living tinsel from roots to ends, with black visible only on the sides and back. That he managed to look authoritative at all was a testament to how dangerous he still was.

Heero nodded stiffly, not quite meeting his gaze. "Yes. You... It wasn't intended for you-”

“Oh, yes, I know exactly for whom it was _intended_ , Yuy.” He chuckled, shaking his head, voice edging toward the tone Heero remembered from the war. “Wrapped in damask patterned paper and addressed to me with a note not to peak until Christmas? You two might as well have put out neon signs reading: Duo Maxwell, Open This!”

“I can understand your anger-”

“I'm not angry, Heero. And you have nothing for which to apologize.”

Well, that wasn't what he had expected. “And you're not... mad?”

WuFei shook his head. The only thing really angering him at the moment were his and Duo's cats. The little beasties had taken to batting at the still silvered tips of his hair, the smaller of them even going so far as to paw at his face as he slept. To make matters worse, Duo had found the entire thing _adorable_ , and had been mid-picture when he awoke. Still, he reassured the other agent.

"No, no, I'm not mad at you, Heero. Anger comes from a place of impotence, after all. And I'm far from powerless right now…” Agent Yuy didn't need to look up to know that he was smirking, that was evident from the other man's voice. “How was Trowa's flight to Ykaterinburg?”

The topic change was abrupt. Offputting, in a week full of things that had already put Heero on edge.

“Fine. Slight delays with the snow, but…” He shrugged.  Neither he nor Trowa had thought the flight back would be easy, between the destination and the fact that he was traveling on New Year's Day. The circus hadn't  actually started performing, yet, but Trowa had promised to go back to watch his nephew. Catherine and Auda had waited eighteen months for a honeymoon, after all.

_“Que dice la volp-”_

Heero answered his phone without thinking, only to stop that terrible song, then froze. He was still in WuFei’s office - still on the clock - and he shouldn't be taking personal calls. Certainly, the only person calling him at work would be Trowa, but still… He looked from his phone, up to WuFei, then back again, completely unsure.

“Go, on. It's important isn't it?” Leaning back in his chair, the still shimmering man nodded gently, giving Heero permission to take the call. Even from his desk, WuFei could hear the angry voice snapping from the other end of the line. Heero nervously stepped closer, and he made out the words, spoken faintly, but with venom. ["Put Chang on the phone."]

“It's alright, Heero; put him on speaker.”

Heero, befuddled, finally nodded to him, setting the phone on the desk between them as he turned the external speaker on. In a show of foresight, he also took a moment to close the office door. Just in case.

“Trowa, how are you?” Anyone outside the handful of people that actually knew him would have thought WuFei sounded cordial.  “Heero told me you were on sitting duty this week. How are you and the demi-human getting on?”

[“WuFei…”] Trowa had barely managed to say his name before a high-pitched peel of child's laughter came across the line. It was followed by  a sing-songy voice. [ _“The cow says… Moouuuuu!”_ ]

WuFei wasn't sure what was better: Trowa's long-suffering groan, or the way Heero’s eyebrows shot up high enough to disappear into his bangs. “Ah, you and Ahsan got our gift? Relena explained that in Sanc there is this wonderful tradition of saving a surprise gift for children to give on the Feast of Epiphany. And since Noin isn't due for another six months yet…”

[“It certainly was a surprise…”]

WuFei didn't need to see the other man to know how angry he must look. Every word was being spat at him through gritted teeth, even as the toddler continued to shriek and play in the background. And WuFei intended to get as much enjoyment as he could from the other man's temporary misery. “I'm so glad he likes it. You know, I only found the barnyard one; Relena found the circus animals and pets.”

WuFei was certain Barton was probably thinking of inventive ways to kill both him and the young minister right now.

[“When... why won't he get tired of it?”]

“Oh, Trowa, children are remarkably clever. Especially when it comes to entertaining themselves. Just wait until he learns to twist the dial midway through…” WuFei couldn't help chuckling as he continued. “It's the gift that keeps on giving.”

[“This was low, Chang. Even for you…”]

“You almost seem ungrateful. I do hope Relena gets a thank you call, as well. She bought two of them, you know. But it was Duo who altered it to include the fox.” WuFei feigned an overly dreamy sigh, his grin so wide it seemed his face might crack. “I'm so lucky to have such a tall, clever husband.”

The other end of the line was silent, save for Ahsan’s happy burbles, as Trowa fumed. Heero, who was just piecing together exactly what was happening, fidgeted with his tie. The Spin-and-Say had the good grace to fill the silence. [ _“The horse says… Niieyheyheyhey!”_ ]

[“If I apologize, will you please come by and shoot these things?”]

“Happy Christmas, Trowa…” WuFei leaned down to the phone, voice barely a whisper. “And - don't forget - ‘ _The fox says_ -’”

Trowa's frustrated scream, and what sounded like the other man's phone slamming into the wall, interrupted WuFei. The line went dead a moment later.

“Hmm... I expected he'd be a better sport than that…”

Heero reached for his phone, gingerly, as if it might explode. When nothing further happened, he pressed the screen to end the call. WuFei didn't seem upset - the shorter man actually looked quite pleased with himself. Heero flipped the phone over once in his hand, then cleared his throat. “There's... there's something else… When... when will my phone stop... making those sounds?”

A very Shinigami-like smirk was back on WuFei’s face, leaving Agent Yuy to question whether nudging those two together after the war had been for the best. Yes, they were happy, but perhaps exposing WuFei’s bull-headedness to Duo's vindictive streak had been a _bad_ idea.

“Can't crack the encryption, Yuy?”

“Concerned with what might happen when I finally do.”

“Ah… Well, you'll just have to see.” Having picked up his pen, WuFei was focused once more on his mission planning, silvered head bowed over the pile of papers.

It was as good a time as any for Heero to slip back out to his own office. All things considered, his comeuppance was mild compared to his lover's. Unlike Trowa, he'd only had to deal with Duo. Relena and WuFei both clearly saw the green-eyed man as more at fault - which, to be fair, was accurate - and who knew what horrible vengeance Relena might still have in mind for the man who'd ruined her hair?

He had just opened the door when the text message came through, obnoxious voice screaming down the hallway.

_“Gedding-ding-ding ding-ding gedding gedding!”_

“Shit!” Heero slammed his finger onto the side button, muting the phone. There were only a few people in the hallway, and he could feel their stares on him. Maybe he hadn't gotten off so easily after all.

“Happy Christmas, Agent Yuy.”

Heero slipped back into his office, grateful for the door closing and finally cutting off the sound of WuFei’s laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t speak Italian, but my brother does, and my dad sent us both an Italian version of What Does the Fox Say?
> 
> In our household, Epiphany (January 6th) is what my mother refers to as “Old Christmas.” The 25th through the 5th are the 12 days, and Old Christmas is the 6th. It was never a huge deal, but we usually exchanged those gifts that were too well hidden, or that were forgotten, on Christmas morning.
> 
> Spin-and-Say was the bane of my mother’s existence because I literally carried it with me everywhere when I was about 15 months old. The old ones used to be made with a real record inside of it, and you could make the sounds skip. My mother tried to kill it by putting it by the radiator to melt the record. Being an obnoxious child, I was quite pleased with the demonic spin-and-say. Eventually my aunt spirited it off somewhere because my mother felt guilty about trying to destroy it. Maybe I’ll write that story from Trowa’s perspective some day…


End file.
